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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Realizing the limitations

I knew getting out of debt would be hard. I understand Dave Ramsey's mantra. But realizing what you really can and can't do....that is hard. I mentioned the other day formulating a plan for things. Putting it on paper, making a storyboard. Knowing the costs before proceeding. All good and well. It is realizing that these dreams are just that....dreams.

Home improvement. That is the hidden cost of owning a home. There is always something to be done. Some it is needed....some of it is wanted. G-man and I spent some time this afternoon discussing it. And while there are some cosmetic changes I am itching to do....the ole funds just won't support it. We tried breaking the projects into smaller chunks, with the idea of doing it in stages. Nope. Need has to win out over want.

I wanted to make over this alcove area. Paint, new bookcase, new chair, light, and area rug. Found a chair we both love. Talked about the paint. The rest would wait. Until we really started talking about what we needed to do.

The main bathroom has several areas that need to be repaired.

The driveway needs to be resealed.

The fence needs to be washed and stained.

Restaining the deck, mulch and a new solar cover for the pool (ours ripped last year. The bathroom makeover of "just paint and a new floor." Replacing the window in the kitchen that is has the pane cracked (can't just replace the pane....the whole window needs to be replaced). The glass that is cracked on the window in the dining room. Replacing the fence with vinyl. All of this is now officially on hiatus.

In the past, I would say that we would have easily put 2-3k on our CC doing these "necessary" things. But I won't do it now. It is easy to say I won't do it....it is hard to accept that we can't.

The reality of it is, we had to pick the projects that if they aren't done, they will cause problems later. The windows were in the running....but after discussing that they have been like this for a long time, they got bumped. The fence replacement was heavily discussed as well.

So, the bathroom repairs will happen: fix the floor where the linoleum is peeling and letting water into the subfloor, repairing the rotted drywall by the tub. fixing the window so it can open again, thus letting out some of the heat in the house during the summer (we have window a/c).

The driveway will be resealed to prevent cracking.

And the fence will be washed and restained. The bare wood will start rotting if we don't.

None of these projects are exciting. None of them will give you that wow factor. None of them are fun to plan. But between gift cards, cash from selling stuff, and little bits here and there....we can do them without using the CC.

Good bye alcove project. Good bye bathroom makeover. Hopefully we can revisit you eventually.